1. Field
The present disclosure relates to compositions for diagnosing liver cancer in a subject and methods of diagnosing liver cancer and obtaining information for diagnosing liver cancer in a subject.
2. Description of the Related Art
When it is difficult or impracticable to perform a biopsy to diagnose a disease such as cancer, a diagnostic method using biological fluids such as blood, urine, or saliva may be employed. However, due to the absence of a high accuracy marker, there are difficulties in diagnosing diseases such as cancer using biological fluids. In the case of diagnosing liver cancer, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is a widely known plasma protein that can be used as a marker, but AFP has a low sensitivity for detection of liver cancer. In addition, AFP levels are increased in patients with cirrhosis as well. Accordingly, it is difficult to use patients' AFP levels to detect progression from cirrhosis to liver cancer.
When a biopsy is used to diagnose cancer, a patient may suffer from an invasive procedure such as an incision. Also, when an error occurs during sampling of a specimen for examination, the diagnostic accuracy may be low.
Transmembrane emp24 domain trafficking protein 2 (TMED2) is a protein encoded in humans by the TMED2 gene. Research indicates that TMED2 specifically binds to Golgi reassembly-stacking protein 1 (GORASP1) and Golgi reassembly-stacking protein 1 (GORASP2).
Cluster of differentiation 43 (CD43), which is also known as sialophorin (SPN) or leukosialin, is a transmembrane cell surface protein encoded in humans by the SPN gene. CD43 is a major sialoglycoprotein on the surface of human T lymphocytes, monocytes, granulocytes, and some B lymphocytes, wherein CD43 appears to be important for the immune function. CD 43 may be a part of a physiologic ligand-receptor complex involved in T-cell activation.
However, there is no evidence that TMED2 and/or CD43 is associated with liver cancer.